Money and Computing

This complaint concerns retaliatory actions taken or threatened to be taken against a longtime public servant, Brian Murphy (“Mr. Murphy”). The retaliatory actions were taken and/or threatened to be taken in light of at least five sets of protected disclosures made by Mr. Murphy between March 2018 and August 2020. The protected disclosures that prompted the retaliatory personnel actions at issue primarily focused on the compilation of intelligence reports and threat assessments that conflicted with policy objectives set forth by the White House and senior Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) personnel. more »

In 1938, with the outbreak of World War II looking more and more likely, the Home Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare decided to establish a women's voluntary organisation to assist in the event of possible future air attacks. On 16 May, the Women's Voluntary Service for Air Raid Precautions (WVS) was founded. When war broke out in September 1939, the WVS already had 165,000 members. Their work quickly diversified into helping in all areas of the Home Front, and their name was soon changed to the WVS for Civil Defence. Women could also volunteer to work for the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes, known as the NAAFI. This had been founded in 1921 to sell goods to servicemen and their families, and to run recreational establishments for the armed forces. The NAAFI grew quickly during World War Two, at its largest running 10,000 outlets, including 900 mobile shops. more »

In 13 states and the District of Columbia, including the closely contested battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Michigan, election officials can’t start processing absentee ballots until Election Day, and in three more states they can’t start until the polls close. With millions of such ballots anticipated, that’s a daunting, if not impossible, task to perform quickly. And with many more voters using mail-in ballots for the first time, mistakes such as failing to sign the envelope or sending it too late likely will lead to a larger share of rejected ballots. The possible result: vote counts that aren’t complete for days or even weeks, creating an opportunity for candidates, parties, members of the media or others to sow doubts about the legitimacy of the process. more »

In a hyped press briefing the eve before the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump falsely said that convalescent plasma had been “proven to reduce mortality by 35%,” even though the therapy has not yet been shown to be effective for COVID-19. On 6 separate occasions, President Trump has claimed that Europe’s excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic is 33% to 40% higher than America’s. But that’s only possible when cherry-picking numbers or ignoring Europe’s larger population. Facebook posts falsely claim that under Joe Biden, the “tax rate on a family making 75000 dollars would go from 12% to 25%.” Biden’s proposal does not call for a tax increase on those making less than $400,000, though analysts say an increased corporate tax rate could effectively result in a small tax increase for middle-income earners. Social media repeats an error reported by Lou Dobbs on Fox Business in July, claiming that major corporations were donating large sums of money to Black Lives Matter. The companies have pledged support for racial equality initiatives, but haven’t specified Black Lives Matter as a beneficiary. more »